Jeremy Corbyn's extraordinary rise from obscure backbencher to Labour leader has baffled many in his party and across the country.

But now the 66-year-old's appeal has been explained by one of his own MPs: Mr Corbyn is, apparently, the 'craft ale of the Labour movement'.

Liam Byrne hailed his leader's 'strong flavours' which appeal to people bored of the bland mediocrity of British politics.

Jeremy Corbyn is the 'craft ale of the Labour movement', according to one of his own MPs

Mr Byrne, who left the Labour frontbench when the new leadership took over, claimed that Mr Corbyn could start Labour 'on the route back' to power.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'One of the things that people said to us is 'look, we don't know who you stand for, you used to stand for the man and woman in the street, you used to stand for the people'.

'And actually what I think Jeremy has done is he's brought a bit of soul-force back to the Labour party.

'In many ways he is the kind of craft ale of the Labour movement – he's authentic, he's got strong flavours, he's seen as something very different to the bland mediocrity of politics.'

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Today he is launching a Red Shift report into how Labour can win again, which warns that voters think the party is 'economically incompetent'.

Embarrassingly for Mr Byrne, he was the former Treasury minister who left the note in 2010 reading: 'I'm afraid there is no money.'

Today the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill admitted that the gaffe played a part in Labour's devastating election defeat in May.

'I think that played a factor, I'm afraid, which is why it's such a regrettable thing for me to have done.

'But what we've tried to do in this report is set out a route map for how we win back a majority in England because the party's just spent about five months talking to each other and as we begin our debates about the future it's now time to start listening to voters.'

Liam Byrne hailed his leader's 'strong flavours' which appeal to people bored of the bland mediocrity of British politics

He warned that voters do not know any more who Labour represents. 'We had lots of people who just thought that we had lost touch with our roots, we had lost our soul, and they just weren’t sure what to make of us. And I’m afraid that went alongside distrust of our record and our plans.'

Mr Corbyn faces the first big of his leadership this weekend at the opening of Labour';s annual conference in Brighton.

He has vowed to defy Labour MPs and make scrapping Britain's nuclear deterrent official party policy if delegates vote for the change next week.

The new Labour leader revealed the controversial policy would be put to delegates at the party's conference in Brighton.

It comes despite Mr Corbyn appointing a host shadow ministers committed to renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system in a Commons vote next year.